Ethiopia’s Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO) has elected a new leader in the person of Dr. Abiy Ahmed, the Addis Standard portal reports.

The party’s 81-member Central Committee voted for the new changes on Thursday. The move is seen as a bid to position Ahmed as the next Prime Minister of the country.

He takes the post of OPDO Chairperson and replaces Lemma Megerssa the immediate past occupant of the role. Megerssa drops to the post of deputy OPDO chair but maintains his post as president of the Oromia region.

BREAKING – THE 81 MEMBER OF THE #OPDO CENTRAL COMMITTEE HAS JUST APPROVED DR. ABIY AHMED AS CHAIRMAN OF THE PARTY & LEMMA MEGERSSA AS DEPUTY CHAIRMAN. LEMMA, WHO WAS BOTH CHAIRMAN OF OPDO & PRESIDENT OF OROMIA REGION, WILL NOW BE DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE OPDO & PRES. OF #OROMIAPIC.TWITTER.COM/4XGOMIT1KI

DR. ABIY AHMED, FORMERLY THE MINISTER OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, HAS MOVED TO BECOME DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE #OPDO, ONE OF THE PARTIES THAT MAKE UP THE RULING #EPRDF, AND HEAD OF ITS SECRETARIAT UNDER THE NEW LEADERSHIP OF LEMMA MEGERSSA (SEEN BELOW). PIC.TWITTER.COM/4PH20FTNMG

Dr. Abiy Ahmed’s appointment as chairman of the OPDO came after the party’s 15 member executive committee, led by Lemma Megeressa, reached at a consensus on Monday this week to replace him as the chairman, the Addis Standard added.

The post of Prime Minister became vacant after the resignation a week ago of PM Hailemariam Desalegn. The ruling Ethiopia Peoples Democratic Front (EPRDF) is expected to go to congress to elect Desalegn’s successor. He is continuing in the role till congress decides.

The four parties under the EPRDF include the OPDO, the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM).

Desalegn belonged to the SEPDM whiles the late PM Meles Zenawi belonged to the TPLF. The coalition holds 100% seats of the parliament. The country is due to return to the polls in 2020.

The State of Emergency Ethiopia declared should have been supported by the American Ambassador to Ethiopia as the only way to stop hooligans from burning properties and kill innocent people. The Foreign Ministry of Ethiopia and Ethiopian Embassy in the US along with diasporas have a huge timely responsibility in their hands to refute all those fake Amhara propogandas disguised as an Ethiopian.Right now we diasporas need to travel to different parts of Ethiopia then document and show it to the USA government entities, videos showing the Gurages burning properties and killing innocent people.
We all need to take our yearly vacation from work , go to different parts of Ethiopia to record/video tape the hooligans committing terrorism.

There won’t be real government of Ethiopia(ns) unless TPLF is cancelled from the land of Ethiopia.

I am also very much doubting Abey?
doubt no. 1: He may not be from the Oromo society;
doubt no. 2: He could be very much after TPLF/EPRDF;
dout no. 3: He could be a strategic figure for the recovery of TPLG/EPRDF.

No, they all should stop with this traitor junta and reorganize themselves for the new and real Ethiopian government. Actors of this killer junta should soon face justice.